BackgroundPhysical activity is often described as being important for people of all ages, but what different people mean when they talk about physical activity is unclear.MethodA phenomenographic method was used to analyze how 13 older people and 17 professionals answer the question, “If I say physical activity, what does the concept mean to you?” as part of semi-structured interviews conducted in four assisted living facilities in two different municipalities.ResultsWe identified a number of different perceptions of physical activity, with the older people and professionals having different responses. Elderly and professionals alike, define physical activity as a requirement for life and as an opportunity to maintain the body although they define the concepts in different ways. Elderly define the concept as a way to create meaning and the professionals have the attitude that the concept means everyday activities.ConclusionThe concept of physical activity may be defined in many different ways. This study has shown that elderly and professionals do not define physical activity in the same way. Therefore, professionals need to be aware of these differences when talking with elderly about individual needs in everyday life.

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Vad vet vi redan om detta ämne?• Personer som flyttar till särskilda boenden är ofta i hög ålder, har betydande funktionsnedsättningar och sjukdomar.• Kroppens förmågor kan hos äldre påverkas positivt via fysisk aktivitet.

Research circles with home care recipients and care staff - a method to increase understanding of what quality in home care impliesA research circle is a method in participatory research, which aims to strengthen the bottom-up perspective and thereby establish a more democratic process for common knowledge formation. The methodology means that more voices and perspectives are made visible, as well as identifying concrete proposals for change. A shared knowledge formation requires that all participants experiences, and knowledge contributions are taken into account and the researchers role as circle leader is to contribute by connecting to current research and other sources of knowledge in the area of study. The purpose of the present study is to explore and if so, how to the research circle method is useful as an initial stage of a research and development process.   The article describes research circle about quality in home care, i.e interventions that take place in the individual’s home outside of assisted living facilities. Quality is a complex concept and often a subjective experience. To find answers to the question of what the meaning of quality in home care services is, research circles are conducted with home care recipients and caregivers separately.   As the research circles are ongoing, the results are still preliminary. To highlight the method, two themes about what quality in home care means, have been chosen to describe the joint knowledge formation, which is based on an interaction between theory and practice. Our ambition is that the results produced by the research circle as a method should also be used as a basis for organizational learning within home care and thus contribute to increased quality.

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